I have interviewed a former lecturer of mine at BI Norwegian School of Management, Tor Bang, who is Associate Professor at the Department of communication, culture and languages.
It’s a relatively short interview, but I think this grasps a professional’s view on the new trend.
Does the development of the digital revolution affect PR?
Yes, of course. Every communication paradigm is rooted in the paradigm's environment. If there is a technological change, the PR industry will follow suit. I do believe that the PR industry might have to view their stakeholders less as target groups, more as individuals.
Do PR practitioners focus enough on this trend?
There has, as history shows, been little attention in the communication and PR communities on emerging technological trends. Parts of the industry are reactionary in its understanding of media channels. Many practitioners measure success in the volume of press attention.
Do you perceive the new ‘citizen journalism’ as a threat, or does it create diversity?
There is no question that citizen journalism and participation contribute to a broad diversity. In a democratic perspective, the creation of a transformed public sphere is highly desirable.
PR practitioners have created blogs on false basis, pretending to be someone else. Do you think it’s ethical that PR practitioners take advantage of people’s good faith?
Professional communicators, PR practitioners and others are in business for themselves and the companies that subscribe to their services. I do not get upset over that, although your question implies an answer of ethical indignation.
Tor Bang is Associate Professor at the Department of communication, culture and languages at the Norwegian School of Management. He can be reached at tor.bang@bi.no
2 comments:
Hey Lise, I quite enjoyed reading Dr. Bang's responses. It would be interesting if he could conduct a session here for us at Westminster. I strongly agree with his statement that "Parts of the industry are reactionary in its understanding of media channels." Its true, as much as we try to paint a picture to be aware, proactive and prepared a lot of times we are reactionary bordering on Crisis Management. Not sure if that's always a good thing!
Hi Lise
Your interview was very enjoyable! I found what he said about fake blogs interesting. It is easy, as an outsider, to critisize those who create these fake blogs and call it unethical, but in the end how different is it from other aspects of public relations? Isn't it basically just another way of shaping a organizations message to reach their target audience? I do not agree with it, but I don't see how it is much different from other tactics in pr.
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